For Service Members Only: Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay #army #airforce #navy #marineCorps

If you are eligible make sure all of you jump on this right here....I guess I just figured out how I'm going to finance my New Yrs 2011 trip to Vegas. Say Word!

Veterans and current servicemembers who were involuntarily retained in the military under the so-called "Stop Loss" program should apply for special pay before the Dec. 3 deadline. Military members whose service was involuntarily extended or whose retirement was suspended between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2009, may be entitled to a retroactive payment of $500 for each month of extension. Information on the special pay and links to the application are available on the Department of Defense website.

Realities of War: US Businessman Claims Blackwater "Paid Me to Buy Steroids and Weapons on Black Market for its Shooters"

Not for nothing but the struggle of war changes the hearts and minds of men. Preserve the integrity of your own 1st. The stakes are different. In war, moral consciousness can never exceed the psychological impacts of physical and emotional demand.  If you feel like you would do anything to protect your family, what makes you think the next man will not do the same thing? including his/her own insanity?

-Soldier of Fortune (COLT Team Chief - HHS 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment)

Courtesy of The Nation:

     A Texas businessman who has worked extensively in Iraq claims that Blackwater paid him to purchase steroids and other drugs for its operatives in Baghdad, as well as more than 100 AK47s and massive amounts of ammunition on Baghdad’s black market. Howard Lowry, who worked in Iraq from 2003-2009, also claims that he personally attended Blackwater parties where company personnel had large amounts of cocaine and blocks of hashish and would run around naked. At some of these parties, Lowry alleges, Blackwater operatives would randomly fire automatic weapons from their balconies into buildings full of Iraqi civilians. Lowry described the events as a “frat party gone wild” where “drug use was rampant.” Lowry says he was told by Blackwater personnel that some of the men using the steroids he purchased were on the security detail of L. Paul Bremer, the original head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Lowry also claims that Blackwater’s owner, Erik Prince, tried to enlist his help to win contracts for Blackwater with the Iraqi government using an off-shore security company, Greystone, which Prince owns.

Tragedy: Army Suicides Hit All Time High

Serving in the military myself and having to serve in Afghanistan my heart goes out to these kids man...especially the ones who've had to endure multiple tours, hardship tours at that. War takes a toll of your mind, it takes a toll on your spirit, and even more so it's draining and takes a toll on your soul and to withstand that, most of the time you have to be more than a man or woman, you have to be blessed and unfortunately everyone may not see it like that or feel that way.

Within any war there's always 3 wars that are being fought at the same time: 1. The war on the ground and the physical battle that's being fought each day, 2. the war in the White House (the political battle), and 3. the war within yourself and the fight for your own humanity!

So which one do you think is where lives get lost the most?

via Yahoo News:

Thirty-two soldiers took their own lives last month, the most Army suicides in a single month since the Vietnam era. Eleven of the soldiers were not on active duty. Of the 21 who were, seven were serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said.

Army officials say they don't have any answers to why more and more soldiers are resorting to suicide.

"There were no trends to any one unit, camp, post or station," Col. Chris Philbrick, head of the Army's suicide prevention task force, told CNN. "I have no silver bullet to answer the question why."

Last year, a record-breaking 245 soldiers committed suicide. The Army seems on track to surpass that number this year, as 145 soldiers have taken their lives in the first half of 2010.

"The heavy stigma associated with mental health care stops many service members and veterans from seeking treatment," he said. "More than half of soldiers and Marines in Iraq who tested positive for a psychological injury reported concerns that they will be seen as weak by their fellow service members."